In North Carolina, 17-year-olds can vote in the statewide primary (e.g., for governor, etc.) if they turn 18 by November 6th. However, they CANNOT vote on Amendment 1 in this primary -- they can only vote for candidates -- therefore they are being handed ballots WITHOUT Amendment 1. That is proper election procedure.

The problem is, the reports we are getting are that people OVER 17 are also being handed these ballots WITHOUT Amendment 1 in what would normally be heavily anti-Amendment 1 precincts (Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Raleigh). We are working on testimonials from voters who have experienced this -- in the meantime, if you report on Amendment 1, PLEASE ask readers to call 1-866-OUR-VOTE if they experience this in NC, or know someone who did. That will enable the campaign's field team to investigate and correct this as soon as possible.

It reveals that the anti-marriage equality are not simply anti-marriage. They are against any civil recognition of gay couples, commitment, responsibility and equality. The Amendment today would ban any relationship rights whatever to gay couples in the state. It renders spouses strangers at hospitals, it ensures no legal stability for shared homes or shared children. It is in many ways a simple declaration that gay relationships are anathema to the people of North Carolina. That's what drives the anti-marriage equality movement: the removal of gay people from full family life.

Comments

I voted earlier today. Around 8 am at Ashbrook Highschool here in Gastonia NC. I made SURE it had that option on it. Was the entire reason I got out to vote. It had it there on the democratic form.

Posted by: Cocoa | May 8, 2012 12:59:40 PM

My guess they are going to win( with a pretty big margin). But what happens then? Is it not illegal to deprive a group of people rights they previously had (I do not think about marriage equality) but other rights? Or have I misunderstood

Posted by: NN | May 8, 2012 1:05:59 PM

If Andrew Sullivan is right..AND I believe he is...
tell me why we should not be boycotting NC?
instead Democrats will pump millions of scarce economic dollars into a state that has enshrined discrimination.
And please don't tell me that there will be some sort of "rally" or statement from the platform.
We ask gay repugs to abandon their party when it comes to LGBT rights and shame them...how can we as Democrats support this state?
I say...if there is no marriage platform then perhaps we need to stage a walk out of the convention...it's not like we don't know who the nominee is...why throw a party...sounds like something GAY INC would do...oh wait...isn't Joe S. now working for the Obama Campaign now?

Posted by: mcNnyc | May 8, 2012 1:07:31 PM

As I was walking into my polling place, a man was handing out cards in favor of Amendment One. He tried to hand me one and said "I encourage you to vote for Amendment One." I glared at him and said "I am NOT voting FOR it!" He was kind of shocked since I live in a redneck town. As I was standing in the door waiting to go in, two black women came up behind me holding those cards. They were discussing how they were going to vote for it. I quietly turned around and said "You DO realize it is a civil rights issue, don't you?" They politely told me "Yes, but it's more of a 'spiritual' issue." So then I took my partner to vote at his precinct, which ironically is right next door to Berean Baptist - the hate preacher?. They have a Vote FOR Amendment 1 sign in their front yard - not surprised. How christian of them. Not so much separation of church and state as separation of love and hate.

Early this morning I had to unfriend someone on facebook because he posted a link in support of the amendment. I posted on his wall how hypocritical of him to support "protection of marriage" since he has been married twice.

This is going to be a long day. I hope it's not the day I find out if I've been "defined."

Posted by: sweetdog | May 8, 2012 1:08:56 PM

I'm in NC. These people better hope nothing happens to my family, because if I didn't have people depending on me, I would use my second amendment rights to go on a killing spree.

I am very angry right now.

Posted by: Mawm | May 8, 2012 1:14:38 PM

@NN... I believe if the amendment passes it can be challenged in federal court using the precedent of the Prop 8 trial. Prop 8 was found to be unconstitutional. And that was held up on appeal. One of the reasons the appeals court gave for upholding the ruling was that it took away rights that people already had for no reason other than animus.

The amendment in NC will also take away rights that people already have. Not marriage rights, but domestic partnership rights. And, again, for no reason other than animus. So, my guess is that if the amendment passes, as soon as anyone currently receiving benefits loses those benefits because of the amendment, a lawsuit should be filed in federal court.

I’m generally opposed to condemning others views on GLBT rights as fighting fire with fire will never get anyone very far. However, I’m truly disgusted with the bigotry and hatred that GLBT citizens have to endure in this country every day. The truth is that America is years behind MANY other countries around the world in terms of equality issues. Hell… America is far behind MOST other countries in terms of our limited ability to look to the future as we can never seem to leave our past.

It’s time we get our heads out of our asses AMERICA. The world is watching and we continue to prove ourselves unworthy of our title; “land of the free.” Beyond our borders we are not revered as a great nation. We are seen as a country that lacks insight, promotes intolerance and dismisses others as inferior. A country that would choose to purposely limit the rights of a minority, proclaiming them inferior SIMPLY because of who they love, will NEVER have the APTITUDE and INTEGRITY it takes to be the leader this world needs.

Do what’s right and set an example that we as AMERICANS can be proud of… VOTE AGAINST AMENDMENT ONE TODAY!

EQUALITY IS NOT A RIGHT TO BE VOTED ON; IT’S OUR RIGHT AS HUMAN BEINGS.

Posted by: Mitch | May 8, 2012 2:18:22 PM

Will the amendment void DP's already offered by some counties or towns?
I have heard conflicting answers on this.

I have no doubt that the amendment will pass, from what I have been reading that was never really in doubt. To tamper with ballots does seem to be a bit much in order to pass the bill though.
I am always amazed when minority groups that have experienced prejudice and bigotry can't see it in themselves when they get to vote on another minorities rights. That's why I have always felt that minority rights should never be put to a vote, the majority never want to give up or allow other groups to have the same rights and privileges they enjoy.

Posted by: Swiminbuff | May 8, 2012 3:08:22 PM

JACKFKNTWIST, There was a poll last year that included most of the southern states, and essentially about half of southerners thought the wrong side won the civil war, and that black and white should not mix.

I'm 71 and vote in the heaviest Republican district in NC. When I went to vote as an "unaffiliated" voter this am, I was only given a ballot for Amendment One. I knew this was wrong, and told them I was supposed to be given a candidates' ballot. Was told the precinct worker was "new."

I can imagine the Rs telling the old and ignorant they only have to vote for the amendment when they were campaigning, and I reported this incident to the county and state Democratic Party offices.

I've seen countless yard signs in this county saying "Vote for Holy Matrimony", along with various "Vote the Bible" messages.

They can kiss my keister.

Posted by: Older_Wiser | May 8, 2012 4:16:29 PM

Comment of the day, Older Wiser!

Posted by: Gregoire | May 8, 2012 4:28:32 PM

Since when has election fraud been a Christian value?

Posted by: kit | May 8, 2012 4:29:12 PM

@ MCNNYC
"tell me why we should not be boycotting NC? instead Democrats will pump millions of scarce economic dollars into a state that has enshrined discrimination."

Not that I disagree, but finding a place to hold a convention is going to get sort of tricky...

@Forrest -- it seems pretty clear that if the amendment passes and is enforced as written, domestic partnerships currently recognized by some local governments would be in violation. What is not clear is how, or if, the amendment would be enforced in cases like that. I did read that one of the affected localities (Durham, I think) was advised by their attorneys to continue providing domestic-partnership benefits until the situation becomes clearer through the court cases that are anticipated if it passes.

Posted by: Dave | May 8, 2012 6:19:41 PM

I voted after work with no issues. I did have to de-friend one person; I have no tolerance for bigots.

Posted by: Lane | May 8, 2012 7:02:14 PM

You know, it's the darndest thing. We're incessantly hearing about this poll and that poll, and this change of heart and that change of heart, and how young people are going this way and how support for gay marriage is the sweeping tide of history... and yet, nothing has changed since voters in my state, Oregon, passed Measure 36 by identical margins as NC just passed Amendment 1. This is just one more bit of proof that the Bradley Effect is in full operation when polls are taken: knowing what the "right" answer is, respondents tell pollsters that they believe the "right" thing but when it comes time to register their opinion in private, when no one else in the world knows how they've voted, they show their real opinion. Therefore, based on the way people express their opinion when that opinion has actual consequences, there is not a single solitary inch of movement in favor of gay marriage.

Fact is, this is the result that was going to come. The earnest assertion that gay marriage is a civil and human right, that it is a vital component of a general societal evolution towards greater freedom and dignity for all, is not even convincing when put to the voters of a state like California which is EXTREMELY supportive of the rights of LGBT people as a general matter. Does anyone seriously believe that arguments that are unconvincing in California (unless you get the right judge) are going to hold water in North Carolina? The hard truth of reality is that the inevitable wave of history is in favor of the precepts of the civil society, freedoms tempered by responsibilities, and the present manifestation of this hard reality is numerous people willing to carve out a separate institution that gives legal recognition and protections to loving gay couples but a profound and building unwillingness to set fire to the load-bearing walls of the social compact to satisfy the demands of a fraction of a fraction. Every year and every threat to the prerogatives of the consent of the governed makes the yawning threat of a Maginot line on this issue ever more real. You need 38 states to ratify a federal amendment...and 31 states presently have powerful coalitions in place to push us down that path.

And yet, with this reality staring you in the face with an ugly cudgel raised in the air and descending, you still have delusional blatherskite about "bigots" and "hate preachers" and "terrifying" and using the Second Amendment to go kill people because you're angry about the results sending gangrenous tentacles shooting through your message. I've personally spent the last few months parked on the website of some folks that call themselves the "Courage Campaign" watching the operations of the torch-and-pitchfork crowd that cry urgently for equality, tolerance, and Christian charity while decreeing that any dispute must be denied all three for the good of the human race. And it still astonishes me that the LGBT community genuinely believes that they're going to convince people who had firehoses and police dogs turned on them in response to peaceful exercise of their first amendment rights to assembly and petition, that the plight of homosexual couples who can't marry is equal to the plight of the abused and lynched black person. A free bit of advice: so long as there are gay pride parades that are showered with support and celebration by both white and black, straight and non-straight, young and old, you're never going to win that argument, ever... so stop insulting their intelligence.

Now excuse me as I enjoy surfing the tidal wave of history on to the 32nd state... and the six states after it.

Gays have been abused and killed also, Keith, so let's dispense with that logic if you don't mind. No less than Coretta Scott King called gay marriage a civil rights issue, denouncing a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban it, so I think I'll listen to her instead of you. By the way, next time you comment on a blog, why don't you find the courage to say what you really mean instead of wraping your thoughts in the intellectual claptrap of a Pillsbury crescent dog appetizer.

Posted by: Edward | May 9, 2012 1:22:19 PM

why are christians hated for loving GOD? And n.c.is stopping jobs from entering in our state way before this gay mess.